The present invention relates to a courtesy light system for a rearview mirror which is a part of an automotive vehicle accessory field.
An internal rearview mirror with a courtesy light is known in the art. It is disclosed for example in a patent application no. PI 9302188. In this reference two courtesy light illumination kits are provided. One of the kits is arranged on the driver's side, while the other of the kits is arranged on the passenger side. Each of the kits includes essentially a cartridge type lamp, two brackets to hold the lamps, electrical connections, an electric feeding cable harness, and on-off switch, a reflector and lenses. In this construction each electrical connector bracket for the lamps is formed by a strip of electrical conducting material. The bracket is substantially U-shaped and has substantially parallel sides, between which a pressure fitted lamp socket is arranged. The end of one of the legs has an eyelet to which the electrical harness is connected, while a transverse portion of the support has an extension which defines a fixing flap extending beyond a parallel side opposite to the side which receives the harness. It connects itself between the projecting flaps projecting from the inner face of the back side wall of the mirror housing. The fixing flap is provided with fixing dents which are pressed against the supporting flaps of the housing so as to fix the bracket.
The lamp holding brackets of the above mentioned construction provide good performance from the mechanical point of view for fixing the lamp to the housing, or from the electrical point of view as to the capacity of the feeding the lamp. However, they have disadvantages in that they are difficult to manufacture, difficult to connect to the electrical harness, and difficult to assemble the mirror housing.